brucen8uty
New member
I'm the 2nd owner of a 2006 R1200RT. I bought it in August 2014, with a little over 42,000 miles on it. In that time, I've had two catastrophic failures.
The first was in October, when the fuel pump started to leak, blowing gasoline all over my left leg. This was subject to a safety recall, and it was repaired at Garcia Moto in Raleigh at no cost to me.
The second was a major engine failure, not even a month after the previous repair. I was cruising down a road, doing 60 mph in 6th gear, when I heard a clatter and the engine seized. I was able to keep the bike under control and navigate safely to the shoulder. I didn't realize until the next day that my knees were bruised from where I was thrown suddenly into the fairing. A less experienced rider could easily have lost control and sustained more damage to the bike and, most importantly, to himself.
I'm a conservative rider. I've never been hard on my cycles, even as a young man. By all accounts, the previous owner was the same way. So this is not a case of some kind of abuse coming home to roost.
I had the bike towed to Garcia Moto, where they found that one of the exhaust valves had come apart, pieces of which had fallen into the cylinder. The technician could see holes in the piston, for instance. They suggested, rightly I believe, that rather than try to repair the damage, that I purchase a good used engine and have them install it. It cost $750 for an engine, with warranty, from Rubber Side Up (great guys to work with), and just under $2000 for Garcia Moto to install it (they did some other maintenance while they were in there, like replacing the timing belt.)
Jon Ross, the service manager, called a BMW Motorrad representative to find out whether BMW might take on some part of the cost of repair. We realize that it is out of warranty and I'm not the first owner. We weren't asking for them to pick up the whole tab. We just thought they might want to do the stand-up thing and help out in some fashion.
He was told that, if we could tear the engine apart and determine the exact cause of failure, then BMW might reimburse some part of the expense. However, tearing the engine apart would be at considerable cost to me, only raising the price tag of the whole venture, nullifying any benefit from whatever amount BMW might contribute unless it was remarkably and unexpectedly generous. Nor was there any guarantee that there would be any reimbursement, regardless of what an examination of the engine might find.
Frankly, this whole thing has been hugely discouraging. This is the third BMW I've owned. I have previously had a 1976 R75/6, and a 1980 R100RT. I sold the RT when I bought the current bike. At this point, it would have been vastly cheaper to have had it completely restored. It only had 82,000 miles on it and had nothing like the kind of problems I've had with the '06. Other than typical age-related maintenance, it was a peach.
I've ridden bikes since the late 60s. I've owned Hondas (including a Gold Wing), Yamahas, a couple of Harleys. I've ridden from coast to coast twice. I've stuck with Beemers ever since getting the R75 back in 1986 because I like everything about them. I've always prided myself on their reliability. How many times have I made comments like "80,000 miles? It's a BMW! It's barely broken in! I expect to get 250,000 miles with no more than standard maintenance!"
That used to be true. Think of all the airheads that are still going strong.
So: I get the more modern bike, and have two major disasters within a few months. After getting the bike back from Garcia Moto, I decided to write a letter to BMW Motorrad USA, just to let them know how unhappy I am about this situation. I didn't ask for anything. It was just to get it off my chest. Then someone called from Customer Relations. We talked. I answered questions. He talked to someone else, who then came on the line and told me that they woujldn't do anything because it was out of warranty and I am not the first owner.
You know what? I didn't ask them for anything. They called me. If they weren't going to do something to show that they stand behind their product, then why did they waste my time? It just made me feel lousy all over again. If this is what they consider good customer relations, I've got news for them: when your machine has put my life at risk twice in less than a month, and you think you can just utter meaningless words in soothing tones and that will make everything all right, then you must think that the BMW market is full of half-wits.
My faith in BMW is shaken to its foundations. I fear that they have put technical wizardry ahead of plain old reliability. Any reasonable response would have warmed my heart and satisfied me that, in fact, BMW Motorrad is still the company I always thought it was.
Compare this experience with one my friend had with the Ruger firearms company. He had a problem with one of their rifles. They repaired it at no cost to him. They have no warranty at all. They just stand behind their products.
Or L.L. Bean, with their lifetime no-questions-asked policy.
Two catastrophic failures on a BMW with under 50,000 miles on the clock. They should be ashamed, and eager to do something to retain their reputation. They blew the chance.
Maybe someday I'll get over it. Truly, I still want to believe in BMW as I always have, and to accept that I just had bad luck with one of their bikes. At this moment, it's hard to believe I will ever buy another. I could have bought a brand-new Kawasaki Versys 1000LT for what I've got in this 2006 R1200RT. BMW ought to be thinking about that.
The first was in October, when the fuel pump started to leak, blowing gasoline all over my left leg. This was subject to a safety recall, and it was repaired at Garcia Moto in Raleigh at no cost to me.
The second was a major engine failure, not even a month after the previous repair. I was cruising down a road, doing 60 mph in 6th gear, when I heard a clatter and the engine seized. I was able to keep the bike under control and navigate safely to the shoulder. I didn't realize until the next day that my knees were bruised from where I was thrown suddenly into the fairing. A less experienced rider could easily have lost control and sustained more damage to the bike and, most importantly, to himself.
I'm a conservative rider. I've never been hard on my cycles, even as a young man. By all accounts, the previous owner was the same way. So this is not a case of some kind of abuse coming home to roost.
I had the bike towed to Garcia Moto, where they found that one of the exhaust valves had come apart, pieces of which had fallen into the cylinder. The technician could see holes in the piston, for instance. They suggested, rightly I believe, that rather than try to repair the damage, that I purchase a good used engine and have them install it. It cost $750 for an engine, with warranty, from Rubber Side Up (great guys to work with), and just under $2000 for Garcia Moto to install it (they did some other maintenance while they were in there, like replacing the timing belt.)
Jon Ross, the service manager, called a BMW Motorrad representative to find out whether BMW might take on some part of the cost of repair. We realize that it is out of warranty and I'm not the first owner. We weren't asking for them to pick up the whole tab. We just thought they might want to do the stand-up thing and help out in some fashion.
He was told that, if we could tear the engine apart and determine the exact cause of failure, then BMW might reimburse some part of the expense. However, tearing the engine apart would be at considerable cost to me, only raising the price tag of the whole venture, nullifying any benefit from whatever amount BMW might contribute unless it was remarkably and unexpectedly generous. Nor was there any guarantee that there would be any reimbursement, regardless of what an examination of the engine might find.
Frankly, this whole thing has been hugely discouraging. This is the third BMW I've owned. I have previously had a 1976 R75/6, and a 1980 R100RT. I sold the RT when I bought the current bike. At this point, it would have been vastly cheaper to have had it completely restored. It only had 82,000 miles on it and had nothing like the kind of problems I've had with the '06. Other than typical age-related maintenance, it was a peach.
I've ridden bikes since the late 60s. I've owned Hondas (including a Gold Wing), Yamahas, a couple of Harleys. I've ridden from coast to coast twice. I've stuck with Beemers ever since getting the R75 back in 1986 because I like everything about them. I've always prided myself on their reliability. How many times have I made comments like "80,000 miles? It's a BMW! It's barely broken in! I expect to get 250,000 miles with no more than standard maintenance!"
That used to be true. Think of all the airheads that are still going strong.
So: I get the more modern bike, and have two major disasters within a few months. After getting the bike back from Garcia Moto, I decided to write a letter to BMW Motorrad USA, just to let them know how unhappy I am about this situation. I didn't ask for anything. It was just to get it off my chest. Then someone called from Customer Relations. We talked. I answered questions. He talked to someone else, who then came on the line and told me that they woujldn't do anything because it was out of warranty and I am not the first owner.
You know what? I didn't ask them for anything. They called me. If they weren't going to do something to show that they stand behind their product, then why did they waste my time? It just made me feel lousy all over again. If this is what they consider good customer relations, I've got news for them: when your machine has put my life at risk twice in less than a month, and you think you can just utter meaningless words in soothing tones and that will make everything all right, then you must think that the BMW market is full of half-wits.
My faith in BMW is shaken to its foundations. I fear that they have put technical wizardry ahead of plain old reliability. Any reasonable response would have warmed my heart and satisfied me that, in fact, BMW Motorrad is still the company I always thought it was.
Compare this experience with one my friend had with the Ruger firearms company. He had a problem with one of their rifles. They repaired it at no cost to him. They have no warranty at all. They just stand behind their products.
Or L.L. Bean, with their lifetime no-questions-asked policy.
Two catastrophic failures on a BMW with under 50,000 miles on the clock. They should be ashamed, and eager to do something to retain their reputation. They blew the chance.
Maybe someday I'll get over it. Truly, I still want to believe in BMW as I always have, and to accept that I just had bad luck with one of their bikes. At this moment, it's hard to believe I will ever buy another. I could have bought a brand-new Kawasaki Versys 1000LT for what I've got in this 2006 R1200RT. BMW ought to be thinking about that.
